Feminist Mumbo-Jumbo!

Patriarchal society has ingrained in us so deeply the thought that women are lesser to men, that it is bound to surface (even if it is subconscious).

Looking Towards a Brighter Future

Being born in a farmer’s family in a small conservative village of Punjab, I could only wish that her intelligence and spark for life would meet its rewards.

Life Long Commitment vs. Singledom

Marriage, I think, is highly overrated. Marriage being the perfect happily ever after and the solution to life’s problems is ‘just a myth we’ve been fed since childhood’

A Little After Three

I lay face down, pretending to have fallen asleep. Soon I heard random words like boy, Muslim, Sindhi, dowry, next week, dinner, and blood pressure.

Happy Mother's Day

Today, 11th May is Mother’s Day. It is almost absurdly romantic that a country like Pakistan would celebrate a day like to honor mothers!

Nipa Chowrangi

The neighbors couldn’t hear her screaming over the sound of the building’s generator, so that particular Sunday Aslam was able to beat Tehmina for considerably longer than he usually did.

When a Knock at the Door is Not Enough

She surprised me by her answer, same old she said, battering. Her honesty made me nod. I said, oh, and walked away. The purpose was served. The momentum was broken.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, in 2007, 1205 women were reported to have been killed in the name of honor. Each year the number is doubling.

Psychology of Men's Honour and Women's Sexuality

When Eastern women become financially and emotionally independent their husbands start losing control and become abusive and violent

Aqsa Pervez: The Casualty of Patriarchy

Why are other Aqsas being slapped, punched, kicked, abused, followed, spied on, coerced, threatened, blackmailed, kicked out and married away? Why?

Feminism Under Veil

By observing the rule of ‘Hijab’, Muslim women make a statement about their identity and their equality as human beings.

Islam and Hijab-Murder in Canada

Gruesome murder of playful Pakistani Canadian kid in the hands of her father sends the poor soul to her grave and shock waves to the Canadian society.

Book Review – Searching for Sister Pakistan

Editor Rakshanda Jalil writes ... My concern in this book has been to present as complete a picture of the everydayness of life as it is lived and experienced by Pakistani women.

Hisab Barabar

She is a regular in the gym. She walks with a lazy step, does halfhearted aerobics, and barely moves on the bike. On the treadmill, her whole body heaves with an energy-less movement.

The Other Woman

She was a friend who just happened to be a woman...or, was she?

Curse of Arranged or Forced Marriages

He is from a “good� family or biradri! The girl might be given a chance to look at her future groom once if the parents are “Progressive�

The Guava Woman’s Crèche

Remembering sweet-tartness, salivating,
People taste them with their eyes.
A matronly woman stoops and buys.

Vanaja: A Movie That Moves Your Heart

Either Writer-Director Rajnesh Domalpalli is one of the luckiest first filmmakers around or true contender for future international movie fame.

The Ladies Club

The atmosphere was charged up. Colour and glamour defined the mood in the large room occupied by women of all shapes and sizes.

Chunari vs. Topi

When will we learn that the 'Daag' isn't imported and not on the 'Chunari' at all.

The Quest

“Amman can you tell me who my real mother was?� Nazish asked gazing at the wall in front of her.

Life Beyond Chores

She has everything life gives at its best; loving husband, bright obedient children and a comfortable home. “But I have no personal life."

Bandit Queen

Shall we ever understand why a woman, so violent, got so much support and protection in rural India and made it to Parliament? Shall we ever unravel the mystique of power of illiterate, landless masses in bringing about so profound a change?

Daughters of Hajar

Hajar was Prophet Abraham’s wife and the mother of Ismael. Abraham took them to Mecca (at the site of the Masjad-al-Haram) and abandoned them there (at Allah’s command?). Identifying herself with Hajar, Asra chose to call her organization 'Dau

Female Image in the NWFP

A drive through Peshawar’s main roads shows the most perverse affects of gender selectivity.

Just a Woman

I was used to the whistling, the smirks, the humming of latest Bollywood songs or even a religious proclamation of how great God is, this sort of thing, however had me stop and take notice.

Women's Protection Bill is Not Enough

Hudood Ordinance enacted in 1979 by a military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq has been an issue in Pakistan. General Zia suspended all fundamental rights guaranteed in the 1973 constitution.

A Profile In Courage

A recipient of the Sitara-i-Imtiaz Award in Pakistan and the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s most prestigious human rights honour, she declined an offered post as the first female judge on the Pakistan Supreme Court, stating she thought she could effe

Girls Gone Wild

The kidnapping of civilians and policemen by the students and teachers of the madrassas associated with the Lal Masjid, as well as recent events in Tank (NWFP) is evidence of a real, escalating and dangerous movement within the ranks of the religious righ

On Zillae Huma Usman

What good is the facade of encouraging educated women to be at the forefront at the expense of their life?

A Teacup in My Hand

Sonya sat at the kitchen table, early Monday morning, with a cup of hot tea. She had some time to herself before setting off to battle her job, and the tensions that went with the package.

Women’s Day 2007

The modern woman’s struggle isn’t simply or solely about securing absolute equality... This struggle, and its an on-going one, is one of identifying our changing roles within society and our homes, it’s about understanding and accepting

Fight Hudood, Protect Women

Pervez Musharraf’s amendment of Pakistan’s Sharia laws represents only a partial victory against legislation that many have been fighting against for over two decades.

Imposter Syndrome and Emotional Concavity

Why is it that most women seem to suffer from low self esteem and insecurity while most men seem to think they are the best thing since sliced bread?

It is Never OK to Hit a Woman

According to Chris Rock (American comedian) if she is nagging then at some point you should be able to smack some sense in to her ...

No Romancing the Mohallah

Recently, I declined an offer to watch a mujrah by someone who claims to value the arts and culture -- not because I am prudish, but because there was something disturbing about watching a video taped mujrah in the comfort of American suburbia.

The Clash of Stupidities

Our mullahs use women’s legs as a platform, presenting their exposure in skirts etc as a sign of the west’s immorality. Conservative Indian commentators clip onto their sari wearing sister’s navels like infected belly button rings, casti

Confessions of a She-Driver

Be aggressive, take risks and look confident. Driving will become fun and it will increase your control. But as one of the messages on the street says Speed Thrills, But Kills. So be careful!

Educate Because You Can

For close to an hour, she ranted and raved about how schools were merely places meant to “corrupt” and “modernize” innocent Pakistani children, how educating girls converted them into prostitutes.

Building Barriers in Britain

It is the extremist views of those who cover their faces that cannot be tolerated in a free liberal society. They put on the pretence of challenging our Western society but try and engage in a conversation that questions their core beliefs and they soon t

It should be called Stupid Ordinance, not Hudood!

They are about to resolve another landmark issue for the people of Pakistan. Once the amendments are done to Hudood Ordinance, the entire Pakistani population will come out on the streets and do the victory-dance.

Violence Against Women

Years ago she used to be buried or burnt alive, on the threshold of rituals and traditions, even now in 21st century society she faces the same violence, dies everyday, her ‘empowerment’ has become only the subject to talk about or discuss in

In the Company of Women

For I knew that across the North American landscape, in large cities and small towns, there were others.

Why Superwomen Have it Bad

All we ask is that when we are overburdened, beat up, harassed and looked down on that we get a bit of a helping hand. In those lovely moments of realization my metrosexual man walks into the kitchen, blazing with afternoon heat

Existential Angst: Am I an imposter?

Successful women had high levels of self-doubt and were unable to enjoy their successes. Rather, they attributed their achievements to chance, luck or some random event

A Man’s Tale Of Woe

Women Rule The Earth, DOn’t You Know

Laddo Ki Shadi

She would bluntly reply to the question, “ Will you keep me instead of my sister?” This was obscene when said to males, but not that she cared

Lynddie’s Smile

There’s something pathological about her ability to smile.

Hero as Molester

The commonality of experiences on both sides of the border had never been so same ... The highest court of the country have finally vindicated the indomitable woman's stand.

Sex and Pakistan vs. Rape and The World Media

The safe image of ‘us poor but creative Indians making a living’ is not Pakistan’s. The safe image of ‘us hardworking Chinese—open a factory?’ is also not Pakistan’s lot. The fact that Pakistan is about meat curri

Rape and Exploitation - Pakistan’s Dilemma

Musharraf will very probably live to regret this instance of foot-in-mouth disease, but the only way to show Pakistani women, and the world, that he has had it cured is to take very concrete steps for the protection of and the achievement of justice for e

Savita’s Choice

Hundreds of child marriages are held across Rajasthan with no one stopping them. The reality sinks in when the children attain puberty by which time they are told they have no choice. But they do.

Because He Couldn’t Get It Up!

It is not easy being a woman in Pakistan.

Rape of another Kind

He must publicly and unconditionally apologise to every citizen of Pakistan.

You: The Woman of Today

Who has a vision of her own,
Which is for the whole world to see!

Behind the Iron Purdah

...what this country might look like if people who want Pakistan to emulate the Taliban (in terms of how women should be treated) got their way

The Sania Effect

Why are Indian sportswomen so unsexy?

Mukhtaran Mai vs. the Rest of Pakistan

There are examples in history where armies were dispatched to protect the honour of a single woman. There is however no example of a single woman dispatching herself to fight against an army of institutions that collectively represent an entire countr

Why Mukhtar Mai Matters

She has decided to take up the fight against “outdated and unIslamic customs and traditions” as she stated on International Woman’s Day this year. Mukhtar Mai is showing here that she is no victim, but a woman who has been forced to beco

Tales from Behind the Bar

The bar dancers have come out in the streets to protest, some with the ends of their sarees covering their faces.I cannot imagine Pooja Devi covering her face. 'I broke a bottle and stood in front of one man's table,' she says.

Misogynist State

'Forcibly preventing participation in public events by women can act only to encourage extremism, and send out a message to orthodox elements that their actions are condoned by the state.'

Fauzia’s Rejection

Fauzia stood in front a full length mirror, staring at her naked body. Her skin was a smooth mocha colored canvas of beauty on which were painted the dark chocolate areolas and a black triangle of hidden mystery.

No Retreat

A large number of girls braved the threats to participate in the Sargodha marathon on April 9, but were forced to run inside the stadium of a girls’ college -- defeating the very notion of a marathon as a long distance run.

Asian University for Women

A small office on Wall Street has big plans for the women of Asia. It envisions women as leaders in Asia and is determined to reshape the values, social structures and mores that inhibit the actualization of women’s potential, specifically women fro

A Journey Through Our Conscience

Up to eighty percent of the thousands of women incarcerated presently in Pakistani jails are facing charges related to the Hudood Ordinance, and most cases involve women being charged with adultery after they have allegedly been raped.

A Space of One’s Own

Actually, a woman walking alone in public is also a rare enough sight (which explains my own initial hesitation) and why so many people asked how I felt about it. Even rarer is the sight of a woman cycling anywhere – as women of my mother’s ge

Life in the Western World for a Woman

Is life in the west liberating for women from the subcontinent- devoid of the usual social straitlace which prevents them from being their true selves?

The Meera Trinity

The Pakistani Meera, Krishna’s Meera and the Mahatma’s Mira -- puppets or puppeteers?

Sui Incident: A PR Disaster

Officers operating in this institutional milieu can go to any length - sometimes on the orders of their chiefs, sometimes responding to their own lust.

Such Anais Journey!

How many of us women can accept the verdict of being the 'Madonna of St. Clitoris' or the 'Venus with an over-bite'? Anais Nin could because it was while clothed in words that she stood most naked.

The Violence Factor

The society where there is prevalent economic deprivation, huge class disparities, lacks of correct understanding of our histories and identities, absence of democracy and political participation violence against women and its growth becomes inevitable.

Catfood and Little Women

Life, then, comes down to a debate as to which is worse: death by dreariness or death as catfood.

Avant-garde Pakistani Women

She is the young, single, career woman in Pakistan today. Living at home, establishing her career, with no excess baggage. But it’s never that simple. After speaking to a wide array of women, from diverse backgrounds, I learnt about where they were

The “D” Word

I sometimes joked that had we had blackened eyes and bruised bodies as proofs of torture it would have been easy to sell our “D” idea. But unfortunately mental and emotional scars cannot be brought forward as evidence for dissolution of marria

Let’s talk to Mallika Sherawat’s Breasts

Does that reduce her in any way? Do you know of any woman who has got silicon implants to help in research or because she wants to be a well-padded mamma to her nursing infant? Was Paula Jones wrong in posing nude to support her kids?

Bubbles

She was brought up to be respectful, obedient, well behaved and the perfect wife. It didn’t matter that she was headstrong, rebellious, artistic and just enough aware of the world in her time to be dissatisfied with the scope of life offered to her.

Diary of a Rape Victim after her Death

Today is the fourth day from my death as I was shot dead on December 24, 2004 in Gujranwala.

Western Feminism and South Asian Women

The gander that’s caught in New York cannot be cooked in Nowshehra

Lady Reporter

There is no simple answer to the question that people (mostly foreigners) often ask: how does it feel ‘to be a woman journalist in Pakistan’?

Eye of the Beholder

Your burnt dark skin,
A symbol of the sin...

Reflections of Resistance

No matter how different ideological courses these movement may adopt, women in South Asia are there to bring about a change for peace and justice by resisting the ‘sacred’ and the ‘secular’ both.

When Vagina met Viagra

The moment he puts you in his mouth, I can feel her anticipation. And we wait. When it works they say it’s because of you, for when it doesn’t they can say the same too!

Jirga injustice

From an informal body meant to settle small claims, the ‘jirga’ in Pakistan has been allowed to emerge as a powerful extra-judicial force protecting the interests of the powerful.

Women, Conflict and Conflict Prevention

Women have a much bigger stake in the conflict prevention and peace process along with the other peace partners since they have remained and still are the victims to the most horrendous cruelties of war including rape, sexual slavery, prostitution, displa

What is Freedom After All?

Freedom can mean many things, what does it mean to you?

You Can’t Strip The Army

President Musharraf should seriously consider dropping his clothes. How can you discuss diplomatic ties with a man who has medals for doing undiplomatic things? This is a petty question; the important one is: Has he discovered women?

No Compromise on Murder

The heirs of the victim can forgive the murderer in the name of God without receiving any compensation or diyat (blood money), or compromise after receiving diyat.

History of the World

See, I always wanted to save my boys
from ending, from breathing, from stifling themselves.
But they don’t last – that’s what I’ve found –

Of Nostalgia in Saudi Arabia

Eight years ago, when I was planning to join my better half in Jeddah my friends were worried for me. You will suffocate there, they always said.

Films, Television and Women

Sex and violence are the two usual targets for anyone to take on the film industry. With every controversial film, whether it is ‘Girlfriend’ or ‘Fire’, the debate once again comes to the fore as to where to draw a line between &

Dear Sisters, Meet Maria Sharapova

This is the story of a father who took a chance that his ten-year-old daughter from Siberia can be great. Thanks to the opportunities offered by the free world Maria Sharapova is what no practicing, veiled, Muslim woman can ever be.

Origins of Hijab

After the conquest of Mecca, the Muslims were practically the unchallenged rulers of Arabia and the social conditions in Medina were also not menacing for the women. But, since hijab had been formally ordained by the Quran, there was no going back...

Some Mother’s Son

There is strength and inspiration to be drawn from those who use their pain, not to cause further destruction, but to heal and move ahead. One such woman is Visaka Dharmadasa, whose young son Achinte went missing in September, 1998 when the LTTE attacked

Politics of De-veiling

The headscarves issue in France is profoundly reminiscent of the policies of the French coloniser in Algeria who, in the words of Frantz Fanon, ‘solemnly undertook to defend this woman, pictured as humiliated, sequestered, cloistered’

Civilisation That Isn’t

What leads people to not just kill another human being, but to inflict pain and torture before killing, and then mutilate the bodies afterwards?

Shahla Haeri: Changing Perceptions

Although thousands of educated and working women have played significant roles in Muslim societies, most literature on Muslim women has concentrated on the veiled, poor, peasant or oppressed women.

Criminals -- or Victims of an Unjust System?

If the President really wants to help women in prison, he would do well to repeal the Hudood Ordinances. This would have a far greater impact than limited remissions and pardons.

Rights (un)Defined

A women’s magazine recently took out an “Ibne-Adam” edition

Pakistan’s Hudood Laws: Extremely Misused

Two decades of a lack of public debate has contributed to the continuing misconceptions about these laws. People often assume that they are Islamic, and therefore justified.

Honour Killing: Understanding The Legal Background

Hadood Ordinance has provided this ill-practice, a legal cover. Now, the male members sit together, chalk out the plan and kill the women without the fear of any legal consequence.

French Not the Only Offenders on Hijab

Are French and Saudi laws on Hijab flip sides of the same argument?

Bapsi Sidhwa: From The Pakistani Bride to Earth

Bapsi Sidhwa is one of Pakistan’s most prominent English fiction writers. In 1991, Bapsi Sidhwa was the recipient of Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s highest honor in arts bestowed upon a citizen.

A-Okay

Unmarried mothers are maligned but a married mother using abortion as birth control society deems A-okay.

Now it’s mannequins

There seems to be no end to the non-issues the NWFP government readily involves itself in. The most recent of these is now a ban placed on the display of mannequins in clothing stores.

Mehreen Jabbar

To Mehreen experimenting with a story is one of the most interesting parts of creating a play.

Why is Santa Not a Woman?

Have you seen him cry? Have you seen him complain and crib? Have you seen him lose his temper? Have you seen him throw a tantrum? Have you seen him get hysterical?

A Strip of Road, a Bulb of Light, a Bucketful of Water

We are getting reported in the US as “women are moving up in India” even in the notoriously backward and casteist cowbelt. This might be seen as good omen, the external push to internal determination for aspirants of mud and thatch paradises.

Karo Kari

They dragged her away and what her fate was, Fatima had not the heart to listen to. Miserably, she went and sat down by a tree, near the place. The sounds were very vague over there and she closed her eyes.

Miss Hoor-e-Pakistan

Seriously, you know, cheeks are one part of the anatomy, lips being the other, that we Pakistanis do not kiss in public! Take it from someone who tried it once. And survived. We kiss hands, usually the back of the hands of senile elders and pirs a

Founding Mothers

The most famous image of the Pakistan Movement is when a young woman climbed up atop the civil secretariat building in Lahore and planted the league flag instead instead of the union jack.

Blank Fate

Painfully she lifted her gaze, staring at the emptiness on her mother’s face. She knew then, she had lost everyone whom she was once proud to call hers

Razia Bondrey Bhatti: A Woman of Courage

'I see the journalist’s role as both reporter and crusader. In a civilization that seems to be regressing into new holocausts, we must seek and speak the truth, for we are the voice of voiceless millions. Having chosen this profession, we cannot be

Widows of Banares

The tradition of widows gathering, sometimes willingly, other times unwillingly, is based o the Hindu belief that those who die in Kashi, or Banares will go to heaven.

The Diva as Devi

Lata Mangeshkar personifies the Indian obsession with the woman on a pedestal. But, has she in any way made the Indian woman feel that power?

Being a Girl...

In our society gender seems to be a sky high barricade on the road to ambition.

To the Gallows

The ill-fitting jail garb had lost whatever little there was of its faded color. How many had worn it before their D-day? Sweat made it cling to her like a second skin. She smelled like a pile of manure. Would they allow her a bath?

Waiting For Fatwa

Do not be distracted by those who would deflect and criticize her lifestyle. Be fair, think and judge her on what she has written.

Parveen and Asad

She is considered by many to be the best Urdu poet of this generation. She is considered by everyone to be one of the best female Urdu poets of all time.

Women of Substance

Here is a woman, a German woman, who was considered the greatest authority on Iqbal and Sufism by men, even bearded men

The Vagina Monologues

One Eve banished us from Heaven. Another is helping us discover the heaven within ourselves. One Eve is blamed in Western theology for initiating sin and instilling self-loathing in her daughters.

Women and Divine Decrees

No other law in Pakistan, other than the law relating to blasphemy, has led to such heated debate and controversy than the law relating to the evidence of women

Justice for Half a Man

Islamic law and jurisprudence have also come under international scrutiny since it presents a historically proven and viable alternative to the existing English Common Law and Napoleonic Code. One of the main issues that have come under the spotlight is t

Monsoon Days

The woman on the television tells us it’s raining in India. This means the monsoon will come to Pakistan soon. You only have to see the satellite map on television to understand the Siamese nature of South Asian weather.

The Blackboards

Here is a bit of advice from some body who knows. Never be the middle child in the family if you can help it. Especially if your older sibling is the perfect son/daughter.

The Conversion Chiaroscuro

Didi became a Hindu. Long before the RSS and the Pope got into a tiff about conversions. At that time it meant nothing to me.

Lanka - A Small Sashay

On a fine March morning, I too packed my passport and landed into the hassle free Colombo airport. The way I see it, supreme happiness is ‘Visa on Arrival’.

Yesterday and Tomorrow in India Today

Here was, then, the India of yesterday: poor, hungry, mired in poverty, highly dependent upon the vagaries of weather and yet full of life with colour, dance and music.

For Better or Worse

Compromise is the key to a successful marriage but what happens when neither party is willing to do that?

O Karachi. Part II

This is my passion what is yours?

Trembling Camera Flare on a Column Within a Column

women who end up in this exclusive club-like section

How to kill your Wife (Unedited)

for killing women, a plethora of options are available

Women in Religious Scriptures

Gender relationships in religious frame-work

Takht-e-Bahi

Takht-e-Bahi is famed for the quality of the kebabs available here.

Mutant Muslims

Another case of art imitating life?

Ali G and his Bling - Bling

The first time I came across Ali G was in.....

Air Cdre Rizwanullah Khan Shaheed Memorial Trust

how will we make sure that the contribution to this world happens anyway, in the name of the dearly departed

My Beautiful Rizwan

Such was the overpowering presence in my life, of Rizwan - my husband, my friend, my soulmate, my shaheed.

Protest March on the 30th of March (no pun intended!)

We call ourselves citizens of the world.

As the Bald Eagle Tries to Rule

I knew some guys who hitch-hiked this route.

From Childhood to Youth

translation

Under the Hill (part 2)

short story--part II

The Tyson Who Didn't Fight Lewis

Why were you insulting Hinduism in there?

Under the Hill (part 1)

Do not enter, for you may not like what you will find...

Dear Aliya!

Dear Aliya

Revolution of Regression

Establishing an Islamic Caliphate in New York

In Search of Peace and Flowers

personal perspective on the January rally

Living Abroad

America, the dream of many; a country where all wishes are granted and any desire fulfilled

A Day In The Bazaar

The young boy bumping into her made her mad, madder than she had ever been, but he escaped on his bicycle, grinning, that little bastard.

Shaping the Grayness

The way she saw it, everyone was full of darkness

Resurrection

That night he dreamt of her hands again. They threaded small, white buds of the queen of the night into long strands. And wove them around his heart.

Tying The Knot - Village Style

maids who can conveniently meet their boyfriends

Death

she died long before her life ended

Serendipity in Sri Lanka

I’m a tourist again, but this time in the comfort of my own country, and the time frame of more than thirteen days.

Parveen

Between the muffled sensation of her oblique breast

Midnight's Knights?

Both Rushdie and Naipaul belong to the streets. They are clinging to roots they have no claims over.

The Case For and Against The Satanic Verses

Evaluating Diatribe and Dialectic as Art

Fair and Lovely

She's a little on the dark side

Wanderings in the Twilight Zone

Serialized Novel

Shammo’s Curse

falling out of love is easy if the foundations are weak

The Diary of a Pretty Young Thing

I smiled charmingly at the visa officer

Towards a Ramzaan Sunset

The world is getting ready to open the fast.

The Endangered Species

I’m just waiting for the day when South Asian women are added to the WWF’s endangered species list.

Larka, Larki Aur Smartee

I failed to comprehend why a perfectly sane English description was being replaced by a ghastly Urdu word – one that evoked images of barbers’ shops, naked men and an equally rude Urdu idiom.

Teasing or Torture?

both men and women are equal losers when it comes to sexual harassment in our country

The Sad Reality of Arranged Marriages in South Asia

Arranged Marriages are Racist and prevent Social Mobility

Sir Syed Day in Northern Calfornia

Event Coverage

Mable and Me

Mable was in Girls College. We had one class common at the Cambridge University

Perfect Women. Imperfect Men

women should also be able to fulfill their responsibilities towards their homes

The King’s Gambit: Chapter 5 (The Diplomat)

Carl Davis had just lost one group of swing votes in his home state. He was going to make sure he did not lose the other group also.

Northern California Premiere of 'The Long Night'

A group of people called the “3rd I” are making a sincere effort to promote what they call South Asian Underground Cinema.

Ahmedabad. Sept 23, 2002

26 people have been killed in a terrorist attack in some mandir in Gandhi Nagar

The Politics of Rape

Why the Meerwala Jatoi panchayat thought they would get away with it

The Kal Aaj Aur Kal of Secularism

There is a generation growing distant from religion, and yet engagingly indulgent of it. Not so much as a pathway to salvation as much as a familiar lane of the past.

Dubai - The Red Light City

All that is on the other side of the fence is not green but RED. Enjoy life and have fun, these are the key to making the best of your trip to Dubai. But do not plan a long stay there.

Don Shultz

He was a thin dangling creature nearing eighty

Return of the Blob

Mothers hold the key to heaven.

Action To Support Displaced Community in Gujrat

I grow more certain day by day that we must start in Gujarat, what we did not do in Kashmir

The Myth of Autonomy

The bomb blast had blown off many leaves from roadside trees.

Kashmir Fatigue

I still have a home there and I am looking forward to my permanent return

DIL’s Caravan of Hope

DIL has already changed the lives of over 8000 underprivileged children

Another One Bites The Dust

General Musharrafs ‘political correctness’ made it easy to ignore questions

The Aga Khani

Since the Aga Khani does not fit a stereotype the believer cannot be recognised

The Red Dress

With the mountainous weight of forty-three years

The Evolution of The Burqa

It literally draws a curtain around a woman

Caesar, Mata Hari, and Mirza

Translated from Urdu, a story by Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi (1962)

Riots

Here are people afraid of their own

After Pearl, Which Journalist is Next?

So the press in Pakistan is free

Patthar Ka Sheher (City of Stone)

The closer you get to the coast the richer you get

A New Year Eve In Kabul’s Ruins

for what should have been a joyous occasion, the songs were surprisingly sad

Forced Marriages in the UK

Parents don’t listen to what their children want

The Brahmin Warrior

He found Hey Ram disturbing, but not in a good way.

When the Lights Hurt the Eyes

Our superstitions are world-renowned. We feed the poor in designated months...

An Alternate View

Who has the belly for that?

Open Letter to O. B. Laden

Bin Laden! Yes, I am talking to you. Person to person.

A Pakistani School’s Visit to India

Nowhere else in the world can one enter an enemy country and feel so at ease.

The Virgin Bride

The idea of doing that with some sophisticated American bombshell...was paralyzing

Devi Dies ...

It was April 1939, hot and sultry in the district forest town of Tirupattur.

The Indus that Strayed

It was the summer of 1944, and Delhi was like a furnace ...

White Charade

Based on true events, circa early ‘90s, Karachi, when The White Charade became a symbol of terror

Roshanara Begum in Lahore Karachi ISLAAMABAD

So you think I can tempt a nun

Once a Paindoo, Always a Paindoo

Yes, I am a paindoo

Just Another Stupid Love Story

Women show varying degrees of interest in my wrists

Brocade

Like a worm they have crept inside my perfect daughter’s heart and mind

The Day When God Died

I have an innate fear of the news of someone’s demise.

Marital Rape

A man can’t rape his wife

Remembering Mushtaq Gazdar

In the memory of Mushtaq Gazdar

When Pinky Broke My Heart

I am sorry I couldn’t save you.

DOST of the Hopeless

there, but for the grace of God, go I

Headache and Heartburn

I did not want to witness the hell breaking loose as the young Pakistanis started dancing

New Yaark New Yaark

2 a.m.: Rekha, cigarette in one hand, a drink in the other is on the dance floor

Anything But Vacant

I would like some thighs, cut the fat, I want it lean

Ismat Chughtai’s Autobiography -- A Transalation

Let her, said my father

I Am Wierd

I seem to overflow from them all

The Young Philosopher

who can resist a Pakistani philosopher

Women in India: Are We Better Off?

What should the wife do if her husband beats her and troubles her?

Reflections Of Shame

These questions will haunt me till the day I die

Is the Language of New Fiction Androgynous?

Does literature too have sex?

Banyan Tree

a lone boat on the sea of the universe

Piecing Together Old Bahawalpur

A call to preserve Bahawalpur’s architecture is long overdue

Lahore Diaries XI

one is always driving behind a lorry carrying hay

Facts O-level and facts low level

the matric textbook reads like a badly done PR job by a government spokesman

Family Laws in Bangladesh

family law codes are inconsistent with the Constituion on three counts

Touch

In the West, by the way, that is where our son will eventually go to study...they brutally electrocute an animal to death...

Unsettling Rain

their capitalist eyes glazed over

Lahore Diaries V: Twilight in Lahore

What they have done is build the roads of Gulberg, the financial district and the center of shopping

Roses and Broken China

A fragrant look at yesterday

Study in Black

Why did a man get to wear white and a woman black?

Goodbye, yellow brick road..

today is the first day of my last week as a teacher...

Buffalo

Dreadful, the mother-in-law shrieked!

Unnoticed Invisibility

I am nothing more than a plain woman.
The one sitting next to you, that you never notice

Of Boylove and Boylovers

We (even in the oh-so-liberal West) live in a more conformist society that we are led to believe

Threads - Part 2

the city she would greedily crave for after she left

Deprivation

This is my story. Leave me and you die

Reshma: Voice of Mother Earth

The voice of Reshma is the voice of Mother Earth

Marriage from a Man’s Point of View

I have three words for other men about to take the plunge, when in doubt, smile and nod

Threads (Part I)

He wasn’t that bad, for a desi man.

An Inward Journey to Pakistan - Part 1

An introspective travlelogue of a journey to Pakistan after 16 years of absence.

Snakebite

From the hole, a large hissing sound escapes, and she shrieks..

Looking Through Glass

... he serves on M.A Jinnah and, yes, pops the question ...

Accident

Who is going to pay the human cost of suffering?

Shaam Ki Biathaak

A place almost completely secluded from the rest of the world.

Ashamed of India

We still kiss white ... even on our own terms

Buta, Pattey and Allah Chowrangi

In a lonely December night four men died in the city of Karachi ...

His Decision

A short story about a gay man.

Full Moon on the Ganges

Night time on a cremation ground, among the bones and the spirits.

Dust and Color

From the world of glass and gray to a world of dust and color.

The Never-Ending Story

A womans take on being a ’druggie’ in Pakistan

The Marriage Trap

Why aren’t we getting M-A-R-R-I-E-D?

Fire Alarm

As religious fundamentalists turn movie critics, what’s next for women?

The Bride Burning

Mankind will not stand by and witness our burning:  Mankind will not immolate truth.

Seasonal Swings

The city’s notorious matchmakers get down to business and tie up the loose ends...

Evil Spirits Travel in Straight Lines

Two French scientists go to Senegal to fight a resistant strain of malaria.

The Unedited Fairy Tale of Safina and Zordar

And they lived happily ever after… well, not quite…

Vanishing Point

... if by chance our lives, unmolested, had been allowed to continue

A Pakistani Teenager in Canada

A 14 year old Pakistani teenager gets some things off his chest

India Day Parade on Madison Avenue

it is special here every day.

The Wrong Side of the Border

I hate them. It is because of them that we are tied down in this mess...

The Judge

It was an ordinary summer in a very hot country. Life was full of possibilities and poetry.

Junooni

from Wall Street to the streets of New York

A Wedding with the Divine

let us, oh Khusro, return home now, the dark dusk settles...

The Life Hereafter

And just when we shelter under death, life comes at us sideways

The Quranic Concept of Love

A Quranic perspective on love, choosing one’s life partner, and intimate relations amongst the sexes.

A Day with an Orthodox Rabbi

Hebrew for God willing also sounds like insha’allah.

Recollections of my Grandfather

They deserve their complete rest, after a simple, kind, and honourable life

Calligraphy of Coils